Thankful

My mom is in the hospital again. She called me last Wednesday and asked me to come to her house. I did, she could barely speak and told me to call 911. I did, they came, and they took her to hospital in Antioch. I had Breanna with me at the time and she did amazingly well during the whole emergency room thing. I bought her a toy at the gift shop and that was all she needed, oh and some chips, she loves potato chips. She sat there in the chair while my mom moaned in pain. After several hours they determined that she had a bowel obstruction caused by a hernia and would need emergency surgery. It was very dangerous because of all of her medical conditions and her lifestyle but she came out of the surgery fine. She did need a breathing tube and was unconscious but I still had a peace about the situation. She finally woke up on Saturday and we are now on the road to recovery, it may be a long road but I'm on it with her as much as I can be. I'm thankful for the friends who call me as soon as they see the posting on Facebook, I'm thankful for the friends who offer to just come and sit at the hospital with me, take my kids to wherever they need to be, feed them, protect them, care for them. I'm thankful for home cooked meals brought to my house. I'm thankful for people who are willing and ready to pray, pray for whatever is needed. I'm thankful for my husband who supports me no matter what and is willing to pick up where I left off so our life can continue. I'm thankful that in the midst of all of the turmoil and stress my daughter teaches me that it's okay to dance, to twirl, to be happy in the small things, the things that matter, like finding joy and peace in the midst of a storm. I'm thankful.

My Kelly Girl

This girl keeps me going. I have several people who I know I can call when things get rough and I am so incredibly thankful for them, but this one, this one is a gem. She'll do anything for me and I know that. This one's got my back, and my front, and my side, and my top and even, well.... nuff said. We go way back, back to when we were twelve or thirteen, it's been so long we can't remember. I met her at Full Gospel Church in Concord when my dad got custody of me and he wanted to start taking me to church. Her family was attending the church and we got to know each other. She went to Berean and I went to Contra Costa Christian, two rival schools. (I didn't want to go there because girls had to wear dresses back then and I wanted no part of that. Good thing though, since I met my husband at the high school I chose. God knew.) We weren't always close but once we had kids and were both stay at home moms we got to really know each other. We both love tea..anything that has to do with tea...tea parties, tea cups, tea anything and that's how our friendship really started. We put on a small Christmas tea for some of our friends in our church in her home. We had big plans as always and it was challenging doing it with our toddlers but we had fun and that's what matters. I can still remember taking food out of the oven as people were arriving. The front door was in her kitchen and I had to close the oven in order for people to get in the house but no one seemed to mind. Some of my happiest memories are with this girl. Buying antique dresses for our daughters, baby birthday parties, church choir, Christmas banquets, playdates with our kids, our 30th birthday party, of course getting our hair done every 6 weeks without fail, Women's Retreat with church, New York, oh New York..the best trip of my life. Tea at the Ritz Carlton...skating in Central Park.....Beauty and the Beast on Broadway...our hotel room....magical. She's amazing and I continue to see a new depth to her. This girl knows just what I need when I need it and I know all the while, she's praying, continually praying. Love her.